Yak

From the Splendid Heritage website, I came across a very old Cree paddle dating back to 1770-1775 and traces its origins to a George Holt of the Hudson Bay Company. The 68 inch long paddle has a long flattened grip similar to many Abenaki paddles and a decorated blade that was created by marking the sealant when it was still wet. A simple technique with mesmerizing results.


c. 1770-1775 Cree Paddle
An excerpt of downloadable notes from Dr. Ted Brasser, Ph.D. (PDF link) states the following:

The canoe paddle (NC0047) conforms to the type used by the northern Cree people on Hudson Bay. Typically, the handle is scarcely more than half the length of the paddle; in this case the handle is even somewhat shorter. This may well be the oldest Cree paddle in existence, and its decoration is more elaborate than on recent Cree paddles. Painted paddles from both sides of the Hudson Bay are illustrated in the literature. It is recorded that such paintings had a personal meaning based upon dream experiences. The zigzag pattern on this early example may stand for water.

If this really is the oldest Cree paddle in existence, it may be worth replicating in the future. The zig zag patterns would be very easy to reproduce with pyrography. So many paddle plans...so little time!

We've posted about the J-class racing yacht Ranger before, but she is worthy of more mention. The image below is another one of the great images a friend of the firm sent to us yesterday. Thank you for sending it.


The image is of Rod Stephens and Starling Burgess at what I have to assume is Bath Iron Works of Maine, inspecting the installation of the ballast keel on Ranger. Or at least that's my guess. I have seen other images in various places of Ranger under construction with a large pile of lead ingots stacked alongside, such as in the very good book entitled "J-Class" by Francois Chevalier and Jacques Taglang.

The lead ingots do not mean the boat was ballasted in this way, although internal lead ingots were used. There is an external lead keel weighing in at 102 tons. Here is an image of the ballast casting prior to installation.


Regarding the ballast I find the following notes in the files:

1. The flotation marks on J-class racing yachts were two opposing triangles, each 2.6” deep. Where the points touched was the exact flotation plane. The Js were allowed to add or remove ballast as long as when in racing trim, a part of any of the two triangles was cut by the waterline. It was estimated that it took seven tons of lead to submerge a mark, so that they estimated that they could add or subtract six tons and still remain within the marks.
2. Ranger sailed the cup races with her maximum displacement.
3. Ranger was two tons heavy owing to a discrepancy in the keel casting.
4. One and a half tons of lead ingots were removed and she was thought to be half an inch light of her marks thereafter.

Here are the plans.